LG officially withdrawing from plasma TV business

LG has announced that it is withdrawing from plasma TV production as of next month.

In a move that’s been widely expected by the industry, the South Korean manufacturer has joined its rivals in dropping support for the old plasma TV standard.

The axe will fall on LG’s plasma production line by the end of November.

“We wanted to keep it going as long as we could,” LG spokesman Ken Hong told Reuters. “No matter how much we try to keep it going it’s just not a business anymore.”

LG’s decision follow on from a similar announcement from arch-rival Samsung back in July. Highly esteemed plasma TV manufacturer Panasonic withdrew from plasma production in December of last year.

It leaves China’s Changhong as the only company in the global plasma TV market, with predictions suggesting that the market will disappear altogether by 2017.

Plasma TV panels have proved less popular than LCDs over recent years amidst the general perception that they’re power-hungry and short-lived. This is despite the fact that recent examples are far more efficient and sturdy than before, and that picture performance is actually superior to equivalent LCD technology.

Given the lack of consumer interest, it’s believed that the potential costs of developing 4K plasma TV technology would prove prohibitive.

As with chief rival Samsung, LG will now turn its full attention to OLED technology as the future of TV. Read More: Best TVs 2014